Vistara Airlines in Trademark Battle

Hardly a month after it began services, Vistara, the Tata-Singapore Airlines joint venture has moved the Karnataka High Court in a legal battle with a travel agent over trademark.

Vistara Voyages, a Bengaluru-based travel agency, filed a suit in a civil court in that city seeking to restrain Tata-Singapore Airlines from using the Vistara trademark.

The airline filed a petition in the court in December challenging a lower court's jurisdiction to hear a suit that sought to restrain it from using the Vistara trademark.

Last August, Tata-Singapore Airlines settled on Vistara as the brand name for their airline.

Vistara Voyages, set up in 2008, offers leisure and corporate travel services and filed the suit claiming distinctiveness in service with the brand name.

The airline filed an application in the civil court challenging its jurisdiction to hear the suit but its plea was rejected. In December, the airline filed a writ petition in the high court challenging the civil court order.

Both Tata-Singapore Airlines and Vistara Voyages applied last year to the Controller General of Patents Design & Trademarks to register their trademarks.

The airline is also facing an objection in the registration of its trademark. After examining the airline's application, the registrar of trademarks, Delhi, said it was "liable to be refused".

"All trademarks are processed by the trademark office according to its prescribed procedures. Guidelines and information about all applications are publicly available.